Serena, Blake Lose at Oz Open; Crazy Dokic Dad Bids for Attention

World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport received a scare for the "other Russian Maria," the No. 25-seeded Maria Kirilenko, outlasting the statuesque Sharapova clone 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

"It's not frightening," said Davenport of her brush with the 18-year-old. "I look at it as a challenge to play a lot of the young girls that are coming up -- and the really good ones. I think I've played most of them, I don't care what age they are or how long they've been playing, it's all about the tennis and what kind of game each girl can bring on that day."

The four other seeded winners advanced easily in straight sets in (4) Maria Sharapova (d. Kostanic 0-and-1), (6) Nadia Petrova (d. Camerin), (8) Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. Razzano), and (14) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Santangelo).

"Mentally it was pretty tough when you know you've got a very patient opponent and you know that it's really hot out there," Sharapova said after dropping only one game. "I mean, you've got to be really tough. And the score doesn't really explain the match."

Two unseeded players also gained the fourth round in Russian Elena Vesnina (d. (Q) Savchuk from a set down) and Spanish doubles specialist Virginia Ruano Pascual (d. Granville).

"Today was so mentally a tough match for me because with [Savchuk] I play with her many times," Vesnina said. "I know her and she knows me. She knows everything, how I play, what I like, what I don't like. That's why we played so long a match...I did not know how to deal with this wind. Her serve had some extra kick and with this wind it was very hard."

On court Saturday in Oz in third-round action will be Hingis vs. Benesova, (3) Mauresmo vs. Krajicek, the Aussie Stosur vs. Sybille "The Whammer" Bammer, (7) Schnyder vs. Nakamura, (2) Clijsters vs. Vinci, (12) Myskina vs. Arvidsson, (16) Vaidisova vs. (20) Pennetta, and (15) Schiavone vs. Sanchez Lorenzo.

Doubles highlights will be (6) Hantuchova/Sugiyama vs. China's N.Li/S.Peng, Aussies Ferguson/Wheeler vs. (15) Groenefeld/Shaughnessy, and Americans Craybas/Tu vs. (4) Ruano Pascual/Suarez.

Roddick Wins, Blake Bounced at Australian Open

No. 2 seed Andy Roddick (d. Benneteau) and hot-handed Cypriot Marcos "Bombs Over" Baghdatis (d. Gremelmayr) blew past their opponents in straight sets Friday at the Australian Open to set up a much-anticipated fourth-round meeting in Melbourne.

"I think they're great the way they support him," Roddick said of Baghdatis' raucous Greek fan base in Melbourne. "They even came and tried to heckle me a little bit today at the end of my match (after Baghdatis had already won) and I said 'Man, you guys can't show your hand before the end of it.' But you know they are going to do everything they can to help their guy and that's the job of a good fan and they certainly are that. I'm going to expect the worst for me and I think it's easier when you know what you're in for, going into the match but you can definitely appreciate that kind of loyal and passionate fan support, even if it's not for you."

For Baghdatis it is his second consecutive fourth-round appearance in Melbourne.

"I like the surface here, I won the juniors here and every time I come here it feels great," Baghdatis said. "I love the atmosphere and the fans are helping me so much."

Not loving the atmosphere, or his consistent baseline opponent, was No. 20-seeded American James Blake who was knocked out by No. 16-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

No. 8 seed Gaston Gaudio was also ousted and outlasted in over four hours in the brutal heat and wind, falling to 33-year-old Frenchman Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4.

"It is always tough to play against Fabrice," Gaudio said earlier. "I love to watch him. I think he is one of the most talented players I have ever seen. But to play against him is very tough, almost annoying. You never know what shot he is going to play. It can drive you crazy."

Other winners were (4) David Nalbandian (d. (26) Nieminen in four), (7) Ivan Ljubicic (d. (31) F.Lopez, bagel in the third), (10) Thomas Johansson (d. Simon), and (11) David Ferrer (d. (18) Ancic).

On tap for Saturday are Haas vs. the Aussie Luczak, (1) Federer vs. (30) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, (6) Guillermo "El Mago" Coria vs. (25) Grosjean, (15) Ferrero vs. (21) Kiefer, (12) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty vs. (23) Andreev, (5) Davydenko vs. the Aussie Healey, Chela vs. Vliegen, and Mathieu vs. Horna.

In doubles highlights look for (5) Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro/Zimonjic vs. Spaniards Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez/Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, (11) Bhupathi/Moodie vs. Frenchmen Clement/Llodra, Austrians (12) Knowle/Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. Belgians Xavier "X-Man" Malisse/Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, and (8) Aspelin/Perry vs. Spaniards Ferrer/Vicente.


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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
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